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- G&A: Operational Alignment in an AI-Driven Market; The Sosh = Marcus Parade
G&A: Operational Alignment in an AI-Driven Market; The Sosh = Marcus Parade
How strategic operators are aligning their systems with the way value is actually being measured. Let’s build what holds.
Gia Cilento & Ronald Skelton
May 27, 2025
Overview
The things that used to get a deal done aren’t enough anymore.
Operational alignment, intelligent infrastructure, and clear execution are being weighed more heavily—and in many cases, earlier—than the product itself. This week’s signal tracks where that shift is already showing up in how businesses are being evaluated, structured, and grown.
This week’s Signal shows how operating maturity is now being measured in systems, structures, and decisions.
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This Week's Signal
by Gia Cilento
AI Integration Signals Operational Maturity
AI Integration Pitfalls That Could Cost Your Business
When AI gets framed as a feature instead of a framework, you know the strategy's still undercooked. This article outlines the kinds of mismatches that signal noise, not readiness. For buyers, those are the red flags. For operators, they're solvable tells.
Read here
Factoring Data Streaming Into Your Business’ AI Strategy
Streaming isn’t hype. It’s hygiene. This piece explains why real-time data is all about structural clarity. The smarter the stream, the cleaner the signal.
Read here
What Companies Need to Consider When Integrating AI
A sober framing of what actual integration looks like when it's done with intention. Less dashboard, more architecture.
And if you're on the build side: these are the questions your buyer is already asking, with or without you in the room.
Read here
Owners Who Scale Intentionally Are Building Infrastructure That Holds
How I Built a $12M HoldCo Through Chaos, Grit, and Two Acquisitions
In this podcast, Mark Rosano shares how macro foresight and personal crisis shaped his contrarian bet on infrastructure, food, and power.
This one matters because owners who think beyond surface metrics and build real economic engines are who acquirers trust now.
Read Ronald’s original review here.
Listen here
5 Traits of High-Growth Small Businesses
A look at the characteristics that separate growing businesses from stagnant ones. It reinforces that scalable systems, not just vision, are what carry a business through volatility.
Read here
The Future of AI in SaaS: Strategic Insights for Business Leaders
This piece highlights how AI is now deeply embedded in SaaS strategy and how it's bleeding into every vertical. It matters because business models built on AI infrastructure are increasingly seen as category-definers.
Read here
AI-Readiness Is Becoming a Baseline in M&A Strategy
Mergers & Acquisitions Playbook for the Agentic Economy
This article reframes M&A strategy around data infrastructure and AI maturity, not just revenue or scale.
It's essential reading because buyers are pricing based on systems, not just spreadsheets.
Read here
Making Billions Buying Businesses: A Masterclass
Walker Deibel outlines why buying intelligently structured companies will always beat building from scratch.
If you're still in founder-fantasy mode, this is a strategic reset worth hearing.
Listen here
The Future of Business: Is It Time to Embrace AI Agents?
This sharp take explores how AI agents are quietly becoming the baseline for operational leverage and customer experience.
It matters because acquirers are starting to assume you're already using them, or wondering why you’re not.
Read here
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🧩 In the News
SAP Reimagines How Enterprises Run with Business AI
SAP's Sapphire conference shows how major players are reshaping enterprise operations with AI at the core. A peek into what "normal" will look like next year.5 Ways to Plug the AI Skills Gap at Your Business
The capability gap in AI implementation is growing fast. This article gives you practical tools to make sure you're not the one stalling your own system.
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🎧 In the Pods
Featuring Original Reviews by Ron Skelton
How Independent Sponsors REALLY Buy Businesses
Casey Minshew tells the truth about what it costs (financially and emotionally) to acquire and rebuild the right way.M&A, Business Acquisitions, and Remote Leadership in 100+ Countries
Mike Swigunski gives the play-by-play on how to structure international M&A while traveling the world and protecting your downside.
Founders don’t always know what’s changing until someone sends them the signal. If this issue brought clarity—share it with someone who needs it.
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🧠The Sosh
Who to follow this week: Marcus Parade
Marcus is a global strategist, speaker, and dealmaker with roots in Germany and a presence that spans Silicon Valley to São Paulo.
He's the kind of operator who doesn’t just track trends—he sets them.
From cross-border sales to chamber diplomacy, Marcus brings human clarity into fast-moving systems. His newsletter, Innovative Topics on Fire, is well-named.
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🏢 The Big Guys
FTC Withdraws Case Against Microsoft-Activision Merger
The $69B deal stands. The FTC stepped back. This could mark a shift in how major tech deals get challenged—and how regulators define "public interest" in the AI age.
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Featured Events
📅 Transitions of Real Estate and Other Appreciated Assets - May 27, 1PM ET — Webinar hosted by EPI
Learn how Qualified Opportunity Funds can turn capital gains on assets such as closely held businesses and appreciated stock, into the potential for tax-free growth of wealth and deferral of capital gains taxes. Check it out…
📅 M&A WEST RETURNS TO NAPA - MAY 28 - 30, 2025
If you are interested in what wineries were pouring at M&A West, please see the list below for links and be sure to visit them and mention how much you enjoyed their tasting at M&A West. Special thank you to Daniel Ha, DMH for procuring the wines for the conference. Check it out…
📅 The Overlooked Leg of the Stool: Post-Exit Success - June 3, 1PM ET
How to build beyond the liquidity moment and avoid the post-exit spiral. Check it out…
📅 2025 Leadership In Dealmaking Summit - September 16 & 17, 2025 – New York, NY
Featuring: International M&A thought leadership sessions, M&A Connects Networking and One-on-One Meetings, 16th Annual International M&A Awards and 16th Annual Emerging Leaders Awards. Check it out…
📅 3rd Annual M&A Summit - 2025 - September 17, 2025 - JW Marriott Minneapolis Mall of America Bloomington, MN
From broad perspectives on deal-making to insightful tips on exiting a business, attendees gained a wealth of knowledge. Want in? Don’t miss our 2025 Summit. Check it out…
📅 2025 Future of Dealmaking Summit - November 18 & 19, 2025 – New York, NY
Featuring: Financing, restructuring, and M&A thought leadership sessions, M&A Connects Networking and One-on-One Meetings and 24th Annual M&A Advisor Awards. Check it out…
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Until Next Week
Have something you’d like us to explore, discuss, or analyze? Reach out to:
Ronald Skelton on LinkedIn.
Gia Cilento on LinkedIn.
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